GMA to renew ‘strategic alliance’ with US in meeting with Bush

HONOLULU (via PLDT) – President Arroyo is set to strengthen the "strategic alliance" between the Philippines and the United States in the war against international terrorism when she meets with US President George W. Bush at the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Summit in Los Cabos, Mexico this week.

"I will meet President Bush in Los Cabos not only to take up security matters but also development initiatives striking at the very roots of poverty in our terrorism-prone areas," she told reporters at a press conference conducted at the Filipino Community Center in Waipahu.

Prior to the press conference, Mrs. Arroyo met with US Sen. Daniel Inouye (Democrat, Hawaii) and Admiral Thomas Fargo of the US Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific (CINPAC) at her suite in the Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel.

The President noted that "strategic assessments" strongly indicate "a possible shift in (the) al-Qaeda center of gravity to Southeast Asia. America and the Philippines are sharing eyes and ears in this development."

This is why, she said, she would also meet with Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri and Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who will also attend the APEC summit to discuss the recently signed trilateral anti-terrorism agreement between the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Asked what specific requests she may have to push the US-Philippines "strategic alliance" forward, the President said she does not usually ask for specific items during these meetings, since they talk on a "strategic" level.

"It is our colleagues who talk with each other about the specifics. Let me say, though, that a very important part of my talks with President Bush and Adm. Fargo is certainly about security cooperation," she said, adding that economic cooperation is another topic she will take up with Bush.

Mrs. Arroyo said she has discussed some specifics with Inouye, who is spearheading the campaign in the US Congress to protect Philippine exports of canned tuna against the threat posed by Andean canned tuna in the US market.

The hub of the local tuna industry is in Mindanao, in an area threatened by terrorist groups, particularly the Pentagon gang. This group is on the US list of terrorists, she noted.

Mrs. Arroyo, however, refused to say if the Philippine government’s "strategic assessment" confirmed the alleged link of the Abu Sayyaf and the Pentagon gang to the al-Qaeda terror network of international terrorist Osama bin Laden.

"It doesn’t matter what the proper noun is. The thing is, there are terrorist cells in Southeast Asia that are linked to one another. But whether or not Philippine terrorists are linked to al-Qaeda, or to any terrorist group, they are terrorists and we know that terrorism is a global phenomenon today and therefore there must also be a global response to terrorism," she said.

One response would be to recognize the link between terrorism and poverty, the President explained.

"Terrorists thrive in very poor communities. And just as we aggressively fight terrorism, we must also aggressively fight poverty," she said.

The APEC leaders will meet, she added, "in a collective bid to influence the direction of the global economy away from another threatening economic recession."

Mrs. Arroyo said that she also intends to take up other high-level matters with Bush as both countries cope with the latest tragedies caused by the most recent terrorist attacks.

She cited in particular the bombing that took place in Zamboanga City last month where an American Green Beret soldier was killed and another one seriously injured when a motorcycle laden with explosives exploded outside an eatery.

The President said she discussed the attacks with both Inouye and Fargo but declined to give details, except that they touched upon Philippine and American defense cooperation.

"The forces under Admiral Fargo’s command have been working very closely with their counterparts in the Philippines under training activities covered by the Mutual Defense Treaty and the Visiting Forces Agreement," she said.

Mrs. Arroyo also reiterated the stand of the Philippine government on the US request filed with the United Nations Security Council to launch an anti-terror offensive against Iraq.

"We have offered political, security and humanitarian assistance to the United States in the pursuit of her most vital interest against terrorism, which coincides with our own," she said.

The President noted that Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr. may not have been correctly quoted when he was reported to have said that the Philippine government will not support any US attack on Iraq without the consent of the UN Security Council.

"The Philippine position is we support the UN process. And we also support the case being made by the US against Iraq before the UN Security Council. We are looking forward to the Council coming up with a resolution that will be carried out and should be carried out," she said.

Mrs. Arroyo refused to reply to what she termed a "hypothetical" question on whether the Philippines will support a unilateral attack by the US against Iraq.

She flies to Mexico today to join President Bush and 21 other APEC leaders after her one-day stopover visit to Honolulu.